Tony Rice Teaches "Little Sadie" (with Wyatt Rice and Happy Traum)

[anatol1204]

nice semi bold long hair

[rocmaven]

tony rice unit comes to the watseka theatre watseka illinois on may 7, 2011

[guibox3]

I have this whole DVD and I need to sit down again and go pick through some of the tunes, Tony style! : )

[YouKnowIAmRight]

when we learn to play we tend to lwarn the easiest route which is up down, up down, up down, picking patterns, down, down, down is also quite easy watch tony he often mixes them and even plays up, up, up, before mixing them again. its practice, practice, prcatice.... : )

[bluegrassman776]

wyatt rice reminds me of my cousin looks just like him. lol lo lol

[skakoman]

Would a cocaine addict play like this ? I doubt it...

Seeing him play is like watching a magician !

[skydogz1]

Tony's the best picker (alive).

[gamoonbat]

Can you play that a little slower? ?

[stick1b]

While i respect Tony Rice's speed and improvisation, I kind of like the beauty of the slow melody.

[TruegrassBoy]

So what the hell is voice tension dysphonia?

[knowMusicMan]

smoking grass or tobacco won't ruin a voice. Willie Nelson smokes grass every day and his voice is as good as it ever was. These men hurt their voice by walking out of a gig and breathing cold air, not covering up your head and wrapping your neck with a scarf, or drinking cold drinks. I've been preaching hard for 25 yrs. don't smoke pot but take care of my chords (vocal).

[knowMusicMan]

I should have said, grass and tobacco won't ruin a voice unless you get some form of cancer between your lips and your gut. Then that can ruin a voice pretty good.

[gamoonbat]

How about crack?

[wankatronic]

its a shame that tony's voice is shot by now. he had such a fine voice for bluegrass. nothing wrong with his picking though!

[ex0ja]

lol he doesn't know how to play slow

[bigbossman76]

Haha ya hes like could you play that slow for us tony's like whats that

[headmonsterzero69]

wow didn't know he lost his voice but he definetly found his hair!

[suzyperich]

Wyatt Rice cracks me up. He reminds me of Mr. Bean in the way that he's silent and just going about his business and he's still funny. hee he

[mksr92]

I love this song!! :D Tony Rice is the master

[Entropy56]

WTF? OMG! Is that a pony tail? OMG!

[mattygeetarross]

One important note: Bryan and Sierra are both great pickers!! I guarantee both of them will say that Tony is one of, if not their biggest influence!! Tony is one of the original masters of what we now know as FLATPICKING!!! Thank you Tony!!

[dragknuckle]

Music is not a competition. Bryan Sutton, Sierra Hull and the other guitarists mentioned are all brilliant, but they are not Tony Rice. In my opinion, Tony's brilliance lies in the fact that he pushed PAST perfection and reached a place that few people ever get to. His music speaks to me in ways that other players, even those who may be equally gifted in technical ability, probably never will.

[nsaretard]

Hey, I shoulda practiced bluegrass long time ago, god bless tony rice, So glad I kicked smoking, man oh man was this always his voice? he can sure play sweet. cheers!

[HillbillyJ]

I heard cocaine is what caused damage to his vocal chords. Free base coke can fry them.

Tony didn't used to be this way. In fact, he was probably the best lead singer in bluegrass for a time. Look up the JD Crowe and the New South album from 1975. Thats Tony singing lead before he had any vocal damage.

[flatpikinguitar]

i agree he was one of my favorite singers before he lost his voice. everybody knows he can pick, but fewer people know how great a singer he was. he was definitely one of my favorites

[wankatronic]

i agree totally. Tony was a great singer back in the day. i love all his vocal work on "Cold on the Shoulder".

[shawnlhood]

Tony more or less openly admits to smoking pot. He often mentions having often shared "adult herbs" with Rickie Simpkins over the years. However, it's disheartening to hear people constantly accusing him of ruining his voice with cocaine. He suffers from voice tension dysphonia; the pathology of which is not well-established.

[shawnlhood]

This was a response to everyone accusing him of destroying his voice with drug abuse.

[jamesha175]

OMG stop explaining it and just shut up and play your guitar!

[VASTRANGS]

Long time ago I read on a Wes Montgomery album that saying one musician is better than another is like saying a rose is better than a tulip. Without getting into all the "who is better" discussion, I can say that I love Tony's music. He is one the few artists I listen to on a regular basis. If someone else is faster or more modern, oh well

[timple415]

his full name is Wyatt Hussein Rice ...just kidding!;) they look pretty different the bros though

[ksborn82]

I think this video is great. I also think theres a lot of immature BS talk going on about something that's none of your's or mine's business.

I'm a professional musician who tour's full time and to think that alcohol and drugs aren't around ALL GENRE'S of music is foolish. It's just that most of us have the professional courtesy to not talk about these things on a PUBLIC forum.

Such your mouthes and give him his due, he's awesome! Coke, booze, women? BFD!

[dragknuckle]

I toured full-time for seven years, and saw very little of the negative side of the business. Anyone who was poorly behaved would get canned, because we weren't big enough to be jackasses, but playing large enough venues that idiotic behavior would've cost us work.

I do agree that it is rude to air another picker's dirty laundry, because everyone has a story they don't want told. Give Tony Rice all the drugs in the world, and he still plays better than 99% of musicians.

[HillbillyJ]

Well I'm sure thats true. At the same time, however, I know people who weren't well known at all and would still do drugs. One told me that he would go backstage with his buds and they'd all do cocaine before a show because they thought it made them pick faster. There is one person where I'm from that got banned from a local stage for being drunk so much.

I think it goes on, but you were fortunate enough to not be around the kind of people who used or tolerated it.

[haycoltom]

Anyone who compares him to current headline flappickers is foolish. All of them were inspired by him and few of them can do improv like him, all they do is the same licks over and over at a high rate of speed. Bryan Sutton James Nash and Jim Hurst are the exceptions.

[zeek827]

no doubt fella I caught a Alison Krauss gig in Chatanooga last year just by chance while on vacation and this guy was with her celebrating his 35 yrs in the business ...Holy Moly I felt like I owed them more money for the concert what a talented man

[saullouis]

What a shame about his voice.

[jooker583]

My opinion only I bet 90% or more of the best flatpickers were greatly influenced and most set down and learned every song Tony played note for note before doing there own thing. Give him credit where it's due. There may be better pickers now but not when he was writing all the music and mixing the different genre's together to make what is now the standard bluegrass flatpicking sound. He didn't invent flatpicking but he took it to another level. Coked up, whored out, whatever he's damn good.

[marshaul]

You don't hear Tony talk much these days. As much as I miss his voice, I must say his playing these days more than makes up for it. Simply amazing.

[treefe]

opinions are like assholes. everybody has one and most of them stink.

[paleoman1999]

Very tasteful version... almost everything Rice does is perfect.

TD

[SteveGaines]

Doc Watson got the ball rolling along with Clarence White in the 60's...Norman Blake, Dan Crary and then Tony Rice who was influenced by Clarence White and added some Djanjo Reinhardt and there you have THE PIONEERS of guitar flatpicking...

[urfaceislolburn]

You moron.

Django wasn't bluesy. Clarence was mildly bluesy, but not where TR took it. TR was inspired clearly more by blues not Django. You must blow on guitar I bet.

[bjrpkr]

Tony was also inspired by alcohol, coke, and cigs. His playing has been frozen in time for at least 10 years. He was a great player in his time and a marginal entertainer. Geez what a drunk and womanizer. Putting on some of his shows was an effort. He's been left in the dust by an easy dozen players. God bless him, though, you can always tell when he's playing. His best years were with Grisman, hands down.

[letebaguere]

first of all, what one does away from the guitar has absolutely no bearing on whether they are great musicians or not. i highly doubt tony's anymore of a womanizer or a drunk than the next musician, but more importantly im absolutely 100% certain that there are not a "dozen players" better than tony rice. they may be able to play more complicated songs, but but no one has his sound. tone, timing, power, rhythm- no matter the sins he commits when away from it, tony rice's guitar is flawless.

[bjrpkr]

If it wasn't for coke, booze, and women, he may still have his voice and surely would not have gotten stuck in 1990. It's silly to think what people do in personal lives has no bearing at work, play etc. As far as a 'dozen': Cody Kilby, Bryan Sutton, Sierra Hull, Gary Hunt, Allison Brown, Mark O'Connor, David Greer, Mark Cosgrove, Lincoln Meyers, Josh Williams, Ricky Wasson...should I keep going?

[letebaguere]

i dont think its fair to say that coke, booze and women hold you back musically; it would be difficult to say that Jimmy Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, The Grateful Dead and the vast majority of modern rock bands where stuck in the past because of their drug abuse/womanizing. If anything, arguments have been made for drugs' contribution to avant-garde music. as for the players you mentioned, i think most of them would cite tony rice as one of their main influences

[letebaguere]

also, tony's voice is due to dysphonia, whose causes are unknown with no evidence having ever been linked to drugs or cigarrettes. most doctors will tell you its the result of strain and overuse. im not defending drugs here; they are indeed terrible and can ruin lives, but lets not say outrageous things like "drugs prevent you from making advancements in music" when so much evidence can be cited to the contrary. there's no need to vilify drugs with false statements; the truth should be plenty.

[TraeBuckner]

I have been touring as a professional bluegrass musician for several years now and I have met Tony on a number of occasions and he told me that too many years of singing and trying to hit the high notes to sound like old Bill Monroe is what eventually got his voice. A few years into it myself and I can totally relate. Pick on Y'all!

[letebaguere]

and im not even saying tony isnt stuck in 1990; im just saying blaming coke, alcohol and women is a bit too convenient.

[nonmax15]

Ok, I don't want to start one here, but come on. Sierra Hull, Allison Brown, Ricky Wasson. Dude not one on your "dozen" is better than rice in his prime. Mar West, Acoustics, you need to listen to these.

[flatpikinguitar]

but sierra hull is only 16. and bryan sutton is better than tony in his prime

[nonmax15]

Everyone has an opinion. But I have live stuff when Rice was with DGQ that would blow Sutton out of the water man. I'll send you a cut or two if you don't think so.

[WEIRDALROXMYSOX]

I'd like to hear that!

[ktbriggs]

To try to take away from Tony Rice's playing is ridiculous.

I like Steve Kauffman just as much as anyone, which is not saying a whole lot based on conversations I've had. However, Steve Kauffman cannot play "music" like Tony Rice. Steve Kauffman is fast food, dude. Think of it that way. Tony Rice is gourmet.

[urfaceislolburn]

Whoa slugger...Cody Kilby grew up learned in TR's shadow. He owns every single TR tablature book and instructional DVD and learned all he could from TR. You can't give the same credit to the originator, as a mimic. It's not the same deal...now I know they don't play the same, I know, but he took what TR has done, and used it as a stepping stone. Gotta give credit where credit is due. And I'm not a huge fan of "flatpicking competitions" what a joke, there are SO many people who don't even compete

[jocwalk]

That may be but Tony was HEAVILY influenced by Doc Watson and Norman Blake, as well as Clarence White. While I like a lot of Tony's stuff, there's a lot of it I don't like as it's pretty much just jazz. As for the competition part, there's not a great flat-picker around who isn't familiar with the national championship in Winfield, KS. Check out Dixie Hoedown - Lone Mountain Band and stuff with Steve Kaufman. Those are two national champions. Tony's great but no better than these guys.

[urfaceislolburn]

Blah blah blah.

Some of the BEST players in the world never even entered a competition. Competitions are a joke anyway. They mean nothing. How can you be BETTER than someone at playing music? It's MUSIC. It's not a win or lose sport. People who think music is a win/lose better or worse don't know what music is and clearly approach it the wrong way. Shame.

[jocwalk]

Interesting point. You are COMPLETELY contradicting yourself. "Cody Kilby who? Tony Rice is king." Your words, not mine. By making such an asinine statement, you are saying that Tony Rice is the be all end all greatest guitarist ever. He's very, very good. I never said he wasn't. I'm just saying that there are lots of folks every bit as good (like Grier, Sutton, KILBY, Curry, Kaufman, and Williams for instance (all of whom have competed.)) You were the one being critical of others, not me.

[urfaceislolburn]

Cody Kilby who? Tony Rice is king.

[jocwalk]

Easy there. Cody won the national championship at 17 and had national championships and/or placements on the guitar, mandolin, and banjo by the age of 18. Also, Cody is only around 27 now. While I think Cody is every bit as good as Tony, he still has a long time to show it. Tony's GREAT but he has said he was influenced by Norman Blake. Check out the video of Norman playing "Randall Collings" and see if you don't think Tony has a lot of Norman's style in his play.